War in Ethiopia 1935 1936 - Postcard celebrating Italian troops in East Africa during the Ethiopian campaign. The War in Abyssinia or Ethiopia campaign, refers to the war waged by the Kingdom of Italy against the sovereign state of the Empire 'Ethiopia, from October 3, 1935. The war ended after seven months of fighting also characterized by the use of chemical weapons by the Italian, with the invasion of the total Ethiopian territory and with the assumption of the imperial crown by Vittorio Emanuele III and the 'Announcement of 'empire ', May 9, 1936.